Crafting a fascinating and human main character that grows throughout the course of the books is a daunting task for many writers. To successfully create a protagonist who is neither too perfect or too frustrating, a lot of care and thought is needed to be put in when nurturing the character. Rowling created a magical world, which is an imaginary place miles beyond our actual life, and to allow readers to connect with the story, the protagonist must be consistent and multi-dimensional at the same time. Through immaculate descriptions of interactions and dialogue, well-written character development should blend in with the plot eloquently.

Harry, the young hero of the series, is a perfect example of a well-written protagonist. By inputting the plot line of Trelawney’s prophecy, Rowling is taking a huge risk: prophesied characters tend to be an overused trope. Harry’s fate is predestined even before his birth, and this plot choice is surrounded with numerous pitfalls. From limited character choices and one-dimensional development to monotonous plot, writers may easily fall into the trap of turning their main character into a flawless saviour. Rowling, on the other hand, masterfully avoided these mistakes, and brought Harry to life simply through ink on the pages.

Harry is, at first glance, a selfless and brave wizard who is fated to destroy his arch nemesis. Yet by delving deep into his inner emotions that Rowling had so brilliantly fleshed out, one will find a boy who feels rage, loathing, envy and grief just like any other human does. He reacts to unjust treatment and arduous tribulations the way any human would, yet he resolutely maintains his resilience and morality under harsh circumstances, and seeks love and comfort in his best friends and parental figures. It is, after all, Harry’s pure soul and empathetic heart that ultimately helped him defeat Voldemort at the end.

Growing up in an abusive family, Harry’s early childhood lacks parental love and care that he craves so often. Being so constantly ignored and insulted, Harry developed a sense of inferiority and mistrust towards authority figures. Upon being pushed into the spotlight, he does not savour this glory or boast of his fame, and instead treats notability as an unnecessary burden. Unlike other celebrities, Harry remains humble and modest from the start, which prove to be his shining qualities throughout the series.

On the other hand, Rowling paints Voldemort as an inhuman villain, one that feels no sense of love or remorse, which are two poignant qualities of human nature. By dehumanising Voldemort, a sharp contrast is created between the two characters: one is empathetic beyond limits, and the other empty of emotion. Even in their final face-to-face duel, Harry stares directly into the merciless scarlet eyes of his nemesis, and betrays no hint of fear. Deep in his heart, he knows that, for the first time, Voldemort has no chance against him. In the countless times when Voldemort towers over his victims, never did he give them chances for survival. Harry, on the other hand, gives Voldemort a chance to redeem himself.

“Harry remembered what Dumbledore had said about Voldemort moving beyond “usual evil.”

“Isn’t there any way of putting yourself back together?” Ron asked.

“Yes,” said Hermione with a hollow smile, “but it would be excruciatingly painful.”

“Why? How do you do it?” asked Harry.

“Remorse,” said Hermione. “You’ve got to really feel what you’ve done. There’s a footnote. Apparently the pain of it can destroy you. I can’t see Voldemort attempting it somehow, can you?”

“No,” said Ron, before Harry could answer. “So does it say how to destroy Horcruxes in that book?””

(From Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)

Voldemort has brutally ripped his soul into eight broken pieces out of fear – the fear of death. In King’s Cross, when Harry is pushed into limbo, Harry foresees the fate of his enemy, a mutilated soul which remains trapped in limbo for eternity, unable to move on forever. Fate will force him to pay the price for the dark rituals he cast in life. This is where Harry displays his nobility – before making the final blow, he requests Voldemort to feel remorse. Despite the inhumane things Voldemort has done, Harry still shows sympathy, and hopes that Voldemort can attempt to avoid this terrible fate. 

This immensely noble act is what makes Harry such a well-written character. Not only does it create contrast with opposing foes, it also shows how much Harry has grown over the years, and how despite being young, his perceptions of death and fate are surprisingly mature. Throughout the course of seven years, Harry watched many of his loved ones leave him one by one. Upon each death, he has experienced grief, heartbreak, and immense sorrow, yet each time he has also developed a more thorough understanding about the adult world around him, and polished his own values and morals carefully to become the wonderful man he is at the end. This magnificent character development has never been explicitly stated, yet it is cleverly interweaved within the sea of words, masterfully crafted and embellished in each book.

In almost every fantasy novel, the protagonist is given a special power, a power that they are skilled at, that allows them to overpower the antagonist. However, Harry has no such power. He is neither inhumanly intelligent, nor outstandingly skilled at wandwork. Often, he questions his own abilities, wondering what unique powers he has that can ultimately help him defeat Voldemort. Despite this, Harry never is tempted by the powers of dark magic, and refuses to succumb to evil forces in order to gain glory. He holds onto his own morals no matter what, and never twists his morality for the greater good. This is precisely what Dumbledore admires most about Harry, as said in King’s Cross.

““But you’d have been better, much better, than Fudge or Scrimgeour!” burst out Harry.

“Would I?” asked Dumbledore heavily. “I am not so sure. I had proven, as a very young man, that power was my weakness and my temptation. It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well.””

(From Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)

In the first half of the Deathly Hallows, Harry is hit most forcefully by his fear of death. This fear, though not explicitly stated, troubles him frequently, leading him to be distracted from his initial goal – Horcruxes – upon realising the existence of the three Hallows. The Hallows allure him so much, as they act as a final shield between him and death, a weapon or power that he can wield to achieve his eventual goal. Hallows or Horcruxes… Harry spends much of his time battling over this question, only slowing down when going in conflict with Hermione’s clear mind.

“And he saw himself, possessor of the Hallows, facing Voldemort, whose Horcruxes were no match . . . Neither can live while the other survives. . . . Was this the answer? Hallows versus Horcruxes? Was there a way, after all, to ensure that he was the one who triumphed? If he were the master of the Deathly Hallows, would he be safe?

…

He felt armed in certainty, in his belief in the Hallows, as if the mere idea of possessing them was giving him protection, and he felt joyous as he turned back to the other two.”

(From Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)

Yet after the skirmish in Malfoy Manor, after listening to Hermione screaming as she attempts to hide their secrets, and after carrying the injured Dobby as he lay shivering in his arms before taking his last breath, Harry forces himself to jerk away from his dreams and face reality. Although he is thoroughly irritated by Dumbledore’s lack of information and help, he understands one thing: Dumbledore never directly telling him about the Hallows is a clear indication that destroying Horcruxes must come first in his procedures of defeating Voldemort.

Harry’s dreams of safety slowly evaporate as he digs Dobby’s grave with his bare hands, ignoring the pains in his scar and the blisters forming upon his hands. He realises that it is necessary to face his fears head-on and make sacrifices, as what wizards are facing is war, something not to be underestimated. Lives will be lost, and sacrifices will have to be made. After an anguished thought process, Harry fights away his temptation towards the power of the Hallows, and returns back to the main track, the track that Dumbledore intends him to tread upon. By doing so, Harry is turning down his only chance of safety, and plunging towards the precarious pools of danger and suffering. An underrated choice by a hero with realistic struggles, revealing a darker side of a children's story. Unlike Voldemort, Harry mainly focuses on following his own morals, and manages to push away power at such a young age, a feat that even Dumbledore himself did not manage.

With no childhood, Harry’s life is marked by trauma, loss, and pain even before his birth. However, the prophecy has never controlled Harry’s actions. He is not chosen to defeat Voldemort. Instead, he chose his own fate. A common misconception of prophecies in this franchise is that they must be fulfilled, no matter what. This, however, is not completely true. Prophecies “don't necessarily dictate the future; rather, they provide a glimpse of what might happen” (The Socratic Method). The prophecy uttered by Trelawney, also known as the Lost Prophecy, only talks of someone who has the power to vanquish Voldemort. It doesn’t say that this person will be doing the vanquishing, hence Harry may choose to not be the one defeating Voldemort. It merely gives him an opportunity.

Yet Harry chooses to fight Voldemort. He makes this amazingly selfless choice in order to avenge those who died in battle, those who suffered under the hands of Lord Voldemort. He wants to fight against evil just like his parents did, help bring the world to peace, and end the grief and suffering that innocent people have to go through everyday.

“But he understood at last what Dumbledore had been trying to tell him. It was, he thought, the difference between being dragged into the arena to face a battle to the death and walking into the arena with your head held high. Some people, perhaps, would say that there was little to choose between the two ways, but Dumbledore knew — and so do I, thought Harry, with a rush of fierce pride, and so did my parents — that there was all the difference in the world.”

(From Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince)

Harry voluntarily walks into the battle arena, and he does so proudly. He walks into the Forbidden Forest towards his death directly and voluntarily, not because of the prophecy. He is never the so-called “Chosen One”. He makes his own choices, and chooses to sacrifice his happiness to save the world. To him, the prophecy does not matter the slightest. Even if Trelawney did not create the prophecy in Hog’s Head during that chilly night, Harry will still help fight against evil and become the hero he is now. Voldemort’s fear of death influences him to attempt altering the prophecy, and instead of protecting himself, his plan backfires. On the other hand, Harry ultimately wins over Voldemort because he refuses to allow the prophecy to manipulate his fate. 

Harry Potter is a character pieced together with so much care throughout this wondrous journey in the magical world. It is because of the beautiful balance between his innocence and experience that allows for the perfect lens to view other characters and watch them grow, develop, and flourish. As Harry grows and matures, so do the books themselves, yet Harry always allows for some innocence and magic present that chokes out darkness and evil. The depth of Harry’s character gives complexity to the series, allowing the novels to not only be a fond childhood memory, but also a series that can be journeyed during adulthood. This flawless narrative perspective gives life and sophistication to the themes of the series, eventually building a world so lively and captivating, that everything appears to breathe through the pages of the book, leaving messages engraved deep into the hearts of all readers.

References:

socratic-method.com/how-do-prophecies-work-in-harry-potter 

Note: Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling has been accused of transphobia by those in the LGBTQ+ community. I would like to reiterate my support for trans rights and that trans identities are valid.